If Hindsight Was a Superpower

On the 27th of December my family and I were out on the water. It was a glorious day. But, everywhere we went I was reminded of a case I looked at as an expert witness, where someone died. I used to ride a Superjet and I named it Sheila after a character in a story. That's a stand-up jet ski with 65hp, like an 80km/h water scooter. It was so much fun, and I looked after myself and others by driving responsibly. A few of my friends, students and clients have heard a couple of stories about that ski.

If you're going to ride a modern +250hp jet-ski beast on the water please remember to read the user manual and ride responsibly.

Remember that the steering and the brake won't work on a jet drive when there's no throttle, and the brakes are probably intended for general use and not for deliberate skids when approaching the jetty at warp 9.5.

If you come close to stopping using the brake, remember that the wake behind you will push your vessel forward with some thrust, and your wake will also affect others. You could cause injury if a person has a body part such as a hand between a jetty and their vessel and your wake pushes their vessel into the jetty, for example.

Keep clear of people by the required distance and don’t tailgate people being towed on a biscuit. Observe the navigation markings.

Much of what I observed on that day were accidents waiting to happen.

Over two decades of engineering, working with machinery and observing human behaviours has enabled me to provide a leading service as an expert witness and practicing engineer, but that is all trumped by this preventative message.

Be safe, because it’s no fun being injured.

Michael West

Ask me about the time I passed a fishing boat.